A Step in the Right Direction

It's about damn time. The Inquirer reports that yesterday administrators announced 80 additional policemen would join those already working in the 12th Police District in Southwest Philadelphia, the city's most beleaguered district. The public and the media watched as officials held a roll call of 80 uniformed police at 60th Street and Woodland Avenue yesterday afternoon.

In addition to increasing police presence, Street said his plan involves a holistic approach, one in which "other city departments would work in Southwest Philadelphia to clean and seal vacant properties and lots, remove trash and graffiti, and provide an enhanced level of social services to the community."

According to this approach, respect for the environment translates into respect for other people. We're thinking Street and his cronies finally got around to reading The Tipping Point, specifically the section on the broken-window hypothesis, which states that targeting minor disorderly offenses may help reduce more serious crime.

The city's murder rate is up 27%, and Philadelphians are killing each other at a rate higher than that of larger cities. While we're glad concrete action won out over rhetoric, we wonder what took them so long. Is this show of force just another band-aid or is the administration really examining the systemic problems that contribute to our astounding homicide rate?

It's hard not to wonder whether something would've been done sooner if the 78 killings were concentrated in a neighborhood such as Old City rather than in the poorer parts of Philadelphia.

Photo by Flickr user 18brumaire